


Living With the Past

by Sticks_And_Stones



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:04:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sticks_And_Stones/pseuds/Sticks_And_Stones
Summary: A Siren and Sprite are forced to leave their home. A young man is transformed forever while getting water. One was born with the power to see pain and death in the future. How are these four connected? Through magic, of course.





	1. Chapter 1

**Early 19th Century**

Virgil hated being alone, especially at night, and his parents knew that. So why did they send him out to the woods at night to collect water for his father? He could only guess it’s cause he was the only one not afraid of the dark. Sure, he was afraid of what might be lurking beyond his sight line, but he could at least be sure that nothing was going to come out and attack him.

Or maybe it was because he was young and worth nothing if he wasn’t out changing the world and was instead hiding at home learning how to cook.

But still… the creaking in that tree might be some sort of cat that was just as hungry as he was. It would explain why he felt like he was being watched like he was a single loaf of stale bread in front of a family of six.

“It’s nothing, Virgil,” he whispered to himself, rubbing the fabric of his cloak between his fingers slowly as his other swung the lantern slowly in front of him. “Just the wind… you’re just being dramatic…”

“Just being dramatic, Virgil,” he whispered again nearly ten minutes later, shuddering a little at the wind that was blowing through the clearing. The well was just ahead of him and he let out a breath that he didn’t even know he was holding. Setting down the lantern next to the well, he began to lower the bucket, humming a soft tune to himself. It wasn’t much, just a little passing-the-time song he had picked up from farmers around the village, but he still enjoyed the sound of it.

“That’s pretty.”

Virgil jumped, causing him to lose control of the bucket and heard a splash faintly at the bottom, leaving him without water and with a stranger in the deep, dark woods. He turned and came face-to-face with a young woman wearing a long draping cloak, a stark-white dress that flowed around her, and had her blonde hair pulled into a loose braid that fell over her shoulder. The sight of her made him shudder, not just because she had suddenly appeared, but because she was almost too perfect. Pale, completely flawless skin that almost reflected the moonlight, clean hands, and a dress void of any mud or leaves, much unlike Virgil’s muddy boots.

“Uh… thanks,” he said cautiously. “Are you here for water? I’m sorry but I just lost control of the rope. If you want water, you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow for someone to fish the bucket out.”

“No, I’m not here for water. I just like to go on midnight walks sometimes. Not entirely sure why I was the one chosen to be the outcast and do that type of stuff, but hey, I’m here and I enjoy it,” she said, approaching the well and leaning against the stones. Her hand brushed Virgil’s and he thought for a moment that maybe she was made out of some sort of icy fire based on the way the skin-to-skin contact left his hand tingling and hot.

“I kinda get that… being an outcast I mean. My family wants me to marry so I can get out of the house, but I don’t want to marry for a purpose other people want! I want to marry someone because I love him and-”

Virgil slapped a hand over his mouth, but the woman didn’t seem to mind. She just kept looking at him softly, almost curiously.

“I’m not interested in women! They intimidate me and I don’t see them in a romantic way. I-”

Was it just his imagination or did she lick her lips ever-so-subtly? Was that a stomach growl from her? She gave a hearty chuckle, breaking him from his own thoughts. “I like you. What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t,” he said, holding out his hand even though he already knew what her skin felt like, but his manners practically took control of him and forced his shaky hand out. “I’m Virgil.”

She smiled at him, and the sight of long fangs dripping with a clear venom made him regret every little thing he had ever done in his life that had led up to this point right now. “Nice to meet you, Virgil. Now remember, everything will be explained…”

“Wha-

The hand that had been brushing up on his suddenly whipped around and grabbed his forearm. The hot-cold feeling rushed up his arm and into his body, paralyzing him. His eyes were frozen open in shock as the woman lunged forward and sunk her fangs into his neck. The venom rushed into his veins,. Suddenly he could feel every single one of them set ablaze by the liquid, but at the same time, he felt like every bit of oxygen was being sucked out of his lungs and through the fangs embedded in his neck. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move. Everything hurt. His neck, his back, his arms… his mind and body felt like it was on fire. The world was turning black and faintly, he felt the fangs leave his neck and the woman was standing in front of him, his own blood coating her face and dress.

“I am sorry, Virgil. But thank you.” She turned into a large owl and flew away into the dark. He stumbled backwards, finally able to move but the world was continuing to grow dimmer and dimmer…  His back hit something hard and he felt himself falling down, down, down…

* * *

**Mid 20th Century**

The fact that a saltwater siren and a freshwater sprite was known far and wide across as many shores as the water-fae could reach. Some were sure that the friendship was known as far as the coasts of Japan. Not that the two cared. They were friends for the sole reason that they had heard that the other type would be toxic towards the other and were more than willing to test that fear.

“Hello,” the Siren said cautiously from the water, looking at the small form sitting on the rock, his skin blue like the sky and his curly hair an even darker shade. His wings were dripping from his back and looked as if the currents of the ocean had been solidified. His eyes were being magnified by the strange glass held by metal on his nose. Prolonged time on land had left his fingers and hands a light tan and freckled color. “You’re not jumping in…”

“Should I?” the Sprite asked curiously.

“I mean, normally things that aren’t sirens that hear a siren’s voice kinda jump into the water and die,” the Siren said calmly, but then a grin broke out on his face. “I’ve never gotten to talk to anyone that’s not a Siren! What are those on your face?”

“They’re my glasses!” the Sprite said, handing them out and setting them just out of reach of the farthest point the ocean came up the shore. The Siren took the glasses hesitantly and tried them on. Everything seemed to tunnel in and suddenly the Sprite seemed closer and yet very far away.

“They help me see! Right now, you’re just a red blob,” the Sprite said, picking up the glasses once the Siren had put them down on the ground again. “I like your tail! It’s really pretty!”

“Thanks!” the Siren said, lifting his gold-and-red scaled tail high out of the water for the sprite to look at. “I like your wings!”

The Sprite smiled sadly and looked back at them. “They don’t work. I don’t think they ever will. They’re just kinda there.” He suddenly smiled mischievously. “I’m not supposed to be talking to you.”

The Siren giggled. “Me neither! I’m Roman.” Since they had learned from personal experience just minutes prior that when freshwater meets saltwater, it created temporary burns and pain for the both of them, Roman opted just to wave at the Sprite.

The Sprite waved back. “Patton!”

Since their families thought they were exploring with friends, they decided that they wouldn’t tell them that they snuck away from the group in order to see what the flash of light had been. But as all children of any species did with a secret, they tried to tell as much as possible to as many people as possible without spilling the beans, but ended up telling the complete background of the secret within days. Within those few days, their parents had put up barriers against the two seeing each other ever again.

Unbeknownst to their families, the two had made a cross-heart promise to reunite as soon as they possibly could, something that was considered sacred to children, especially magic children. So one day, when both had experienced another fifteen years of life and in those years, grown used and tired of the constant watching, they found a way to the surface without being seen.

Roman sat on the beach, half out of the sand so the tips of his tail were beginning to separate into human legs, never losing their shine or scales the entire time. He looked around, sensing something nearby. It wasn’t human, that was for sure, and it had a magical presence that he had felt before and had felt tugging at his soul for the past decade.

“Patton?”

The Sprite stuck his head out of a nearby bush and burst into a grin at the sight of his childhood friend.

“Roman! You’re getting legs! And you’ve grown up!” Patton came skipping out of the bush.

“Yeah, my fins have gotten a lot bigger and I have control of my voice at long last. Your wings haven’t really changed though,” Roman said, pointing to the small wings that still hung limply at his back. Patton shrugged, his blue curls and skin tinted tan from time on land. “I’m fine with it. They’re pretty and I like the way they move.”

“Whatever you say,” Roman said. “So… we do realize what this means, right?”

Patton nodded and took a satchel the size of Roman’s hand off of his shoulder, reached in elbow-deep and pulled two pairs of human clothes, accidentally letting fruits and frozen fish spill out with the cloth. “Of course I do… I’m not happy with it, but I learned to accept what the promise meant years ago. Our parents, sure they’ll be upset, but there was no way they could stop it.”

Roman nodded in agreement starting to haul himself out of the water, the split lengthening and deepening until Roman had two distinct legs. Sure, they were still covered in his scales, but he could walk. His stood shakily, using a rock as support and brushing his sticky brown hair out of his eyes.

“Legs are weird, how do you and land creatures handle it?” Roman asked.

“I don’t know, but you obviously can’t ankle it,” Patton said with a smirk. Roman didn’t really understand the joke and began to pull on his clothes, with Patton’s help. The instant they were dressed, with Roman’s scales hidden and Patton’s wings tucked safely under a jacket, both took one last look at their former homes.

“You ready, Roman?” Patton asked softly.

Roman didn’t say anything. He bent down, scooped through the dirt for a second before producing a shell the size of his index finger. He held it up to his ear and the sound of the ocean echoed from the depths of the shell. He smiled sadly and put it in his pocket.

“Yeah.” Without another glance at the water, the two turned around and disappeared into the night.

* * *

_**Late 20th Century** _

Logan had never known his father, which should have been the first sign to him that he would be different. Weren’t most main characters with special fates alone with only one or neither of their parents? Not that Logan cared; they were just characters and he was a real life person living with a single mother who had been left by a father. At least gracious to leave her with just enough to get by as she raised a child by herself.

Within the first days of kindergarten, Logan was already being seen as the makings of a prodigy for a majority of his life. He was the smartest one in his class, finishing third grade as the others completed kindergarten. It was a little odd, especially considering how little he seemed to pay attention in class and instead spent his time filling notebook after notebook with descriptions of his dreams.

  
“Rachel tripped and she scraped her knee in my dream,” Logan explained, pointing to the sentence that, although very grammatically incorrect, explained everything in explicit detail. It didn’t stop the journal entries from becoming real within weeks, the time-span between each truth growing smaller in size as Logan grew older.

However, the strangest thing about Logan wasn’t a mental aspect or the knack for predicting little things like scraped knees or things falling. It was his eyes. Not only did he have heterochromia, each eye was a unique color that no doctor could explain. His left eye was dark red, almost the exact color as the crayons he would leave destroyed after an hour of doodling, while his right eye was the color of actual gold.

Logan only cared or remembered his eyes were weird when they were pointed out by bullies or doctors. Whenever he wasn’t being asked about them, he studied as much as he could with his pet hamster, Sir Squiggles the Brave (hey, he may have been a prodigy who used to write about his classmates being in pain, but he was still ten). He seemed like he could handle the life of a ten-year-old prodigy.

And then one night, he found himself walking into his mother’s room, tears streaming down his face from his beautiful eyes. He could barely see but he knew that his eyes were letting out a slight glow, illuminating his mother’s sleepy face.

“Logan, honey, what is it?” she asked calmly, beckoning him into her arms. He crawled in and huddled against her.

“I-I saw Sir Squiggles… in my dream…”

“What about him?” she asked, petting his hair softly.

“H-He was-wasn’t moving,” Logan sniffed. “I p-poked h-h-im… b-but he didn’...”

“It was just a dream, honey,” she whispered. “You can stay here if you want or do you want to check Mr. Squiggles?”

Logan shook his head and just cuddled up deeper into her embrace. He matched his breathing to hers, slowly counting under his breath until he lost count with his consciousness.

The next day, Logan missed school and instead spent the entire day, kneeling in front of a pile of dirt no bigger than the size of his hand. He wasn’t grieving… some part of him had known it was coming and if he knew it was coming, he shouldn’t mourn… should he?

The years went by and things kept on aging. Logan kept on aging and, as he did, his emotions seemed to drain away with the years, leaving only a hollow shell of what used to be a happy child behind. Everyone else thought it was part of being a prodigy, but Logan was doing better than okay in all his advanced classes. It was the dreams that were making him a robot and conform to what society had to offer.

Dreams of pain and suffering, death and unavoidable tragedies. He saw every single one happen: the death of his friend’s mother, the breaking of his teacher’s ankle, and eventually, the diagnoses of cancer in his own mother. By this point, he knew it was unavoidable. He could see death and destruction in the future… and the exact moment his mother passed in his arms, the sense of deja vu washed over him with the first wave of emotion he had felt in years that sent him into a spiral.

For days, he sat in his room, trying to understand what was happening. At night, he would continue to see dreams of what would happen, but now that the biggest tragedy had passed, they were all losing meaning. Some were of people around him meeting those he had never seen before, others were just of random events that didn’t really seem to have a meaning to the world.

But eventually, he wiped the tears away and kept plunging forward. This curse would not stop him from living a full life. He may never find an answer to whatever the hell was happening to him, but if he had to live with it up this point, he would keep on living with it unless something changed.


	2. Chapter 2

Roman’s bag kept falling off the bus seat, which was very, very annoying. He just wanted to sit on the bus, listen to his music, and ignore Patton’s worrying glances. He was perfectly fine and had told that to Patton multiple times, but his friend still worried. He reached down involuntarily and scratched at his cursed scales, dry and irritated under the jean fabric.

“Roman, stop scratching, it only makes them worse,” Patton said, swatting his hand away. “When we get to a hotel, we’ll let you soak for a while, alright? I got some more epson before we left.”

Roman grumbled incoherently under his breath but stopped scratching and turned his head towards the window.

“Roman, just stop thinking about it, okay? There’s nothing either of us could have done,” Patton said.

_“I know, I know,”_ Roman signed back. _“But still-”_

“Still nothing, Ro,” Patton replied. “Now, we’re going to get to the hotel, you’re going to soak and then we’re going to get a nice, warm dinner. We’ll start looking for jobs and a place to rent around here too, alright?”

Roman shrugged and instinctively grabbed his bag before it could fall to the ground again.

The bus drive continued in complete silence, Roman managing to barely control his need to scratch his scales. Finally, they reached their stop and hopped off the bus as quickly as possible. The sidewalks were crowded with people and it took a few seconds for them to join the crowds with their bags. Roman looked around at their new town. Lots of alleyways, lots of people… but maybe…

Someone knocked into his shoulder and he fell to the ground. He opened his mouth to say something, to yell at the person for bumping so rudely into him, but he knew better than to even gasp in such a crowded place. He whipped around on his knees to catch a glance at the man and managed to catch sight of his eyes looking back at him over a pair of dark shades as he walked away…

Golden and red eyes…

“You okay, Ro?” Patton asked, helping him up. “That man was so rude!”

_“Yeah…”_ Roman signed. _“That guy had a golden eye! And a red one! Like the colors of my scales!”_

“Really?!” Patton looked to where the man had been walking but even Roman had lost sight of him by this point. “Well if he has such distinct eyes, we should find him pretty easily, shouldn’t we?”

Roman nodded. _“Sure. And when we do, I’m going to kick his ass for not being more helpful.”_

“Language, Roman,” Patton scolded. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

Roman got to his feet and they kept on walking. The next ten minutes of trying to find a place to stay were excruciatingly long and, finally, they came across a two-story hotel that seemed pretty clean, but was so small. Roman was surprised they paid someone to make a large neon sign that said ‘Hotel’. As Patton got their room keys, he was still thinking about that man. He had only seen one person with eyes that gold, a young servant of Hypnos with eyes the same color and the constant need for coffee… but red eyes? Red eyes only came with demons… or evil things…

Patton pinched his hand slightly, breaking him out of his thoughts. He was about to complain, but then Patton asked, “How thick are the walls?”

Ah yes, a very important question that

“Uh, I’d say thick enough so that if you spoke at the level we’re talking at now, I really wouldn’t hear anything,” the receptionist said. “Why? You two planning stuff?” 

He raised an eyebrow at Patton, but Patton didn’t pick up on what he was saying and just gave a warm smile. “Just on sleeping and not bothering our neighbors with my snoring! Thank you!” 

Even though Patton didn’t understand what the manager had asked, Roman still gave him a deep glare as they left before turning his attention back to his overwhelmingly itchy legs. As soon as the door was closed, Roman stripped off his clothes and started pacing, his hand tapping just above the area where his scales faded into skin.

“Slow down, Roman! You’ll wear a hole in the carpet,” Patton called from the other room as he turned on the tub.

“My legs are itchy, Patton! I need my salt-water soak!” he whined. Suddenly, Patton gave a small yelp of pain. “You good in there, Pat?” Roman asked, stopping his pacing for a second, feeling his heart skip a beat.

“Fine! The water has a bit more salt content than I was expecting, but don’t come head-diving in here!” he cried in alarm as Roman sprinted to the bathroom and almost did exactly that. “It’s still fresh enough for me to touch it! It’s more fresh than salty, so we’ll let it fill to a good level and neither of us will touch it, alright? At least no one can walk in on you soaking this time.”

“Let’s forget about Garrett, okay Pat?” Roman said through gritted teeth. “He didn’t walk in on accident and you know that. That was me and-”

“He was suspicious and had a right to go in and confirm,” Patton said, but he didn’t sound very convinced. “He didn’t hear a thing from you.”

“I whispered and no matter how much control I have of my voice, he still heard something,” Roman sighed, and sat on the ground next to the tub to watch it slowly fill. More than once.

Patton had to slap his hands away from his scales, but the wait was going to be worth not satisfying the need to scratch. Once it was about half-way full, Patton put on his rubber gloves and the two of them began dumping pounds of Epsom salt into the tub until Roman could stick the tip of his finger in without any tingling. Once this happened, he nearly dove into the tiny porcelain container.

The relief came immediately. His legs snapped and fused together as his feet disappeared in a wave of red-gold fins. The scales that had become flaky after hours of irritation healed and the itch vanished within seconds. He gave a groan of relief and sunk under the water, letting his gills open up for the first time in days. He heard Patton give a muffled laugh at the sight of his tail hanging awkwardly over the side of the tub while the rest of his body floated in the water. He could feel how shriveled his fins had become from so little attention lately, so he stuck as much as he could in the water so they could retain their natural beauty.

“That better?” Patton asked once he had come back up to the surface.

“So much better,” Roman replied. “Yeah, that dude earlier. His eye colors were the same as my tail.”

“Interesting. I hope we can find him cause I’d really like to see his eyes! They sound so pretty!” Patton said happily.

“Sure. So, onto the adult stuff in life since humans believe that having sufficient physical and digital currency is the only way to survive,” Roman said, to which Patton groaned. “I know, I hate it too, but like I said, humans. We both need jobs, a place to rent out, and… that’s it so far. I can go fishing and we have, what, a good couple thousand bucks from working minimum wage, five to six hours a day, every single day of the week?” 

“Alright… at least for tonight, let’s order in a pizza or something,” Patton said. “I don’t wanna go out.”

“Yeah… I’ll soak for a bit, so could you order?” Roman asked, reaching over for his own phone to put on his personal playlist. Patton nodded and got up to do so.

Twenty minutes passed of Roman just sitting there, listening to the classic Broadway music. Patton had ordered just after they made plans and the pizza was expected to arrive soon, but still, like Roman, Patton’s magical assets needed to stretch too, so there he was, his wings spread out across the bed while _‘Heathers’_ played on the TV _._

Roman looked at his fins and noticed that they had returned to their full shape and volume, meaning that he could get out now or stay in for as long as he wanted. He opted to getting out since he didn’t want a repeat of Garret with the pizza man and he really hated missing the cult classic anytime it was on.

As the water started to leave his tail and the split became apparent, something flew by the frosted window. Something large and slightly purplish but it had moved too fast for him to see it. There was a clatter in the tiny alleyway behind the hotel, which they had viewing access to, and then a loud squeak. He sat up, wishing for once that he could stand up and see.

“What was that?” Patton called from the other room.

“I don’t know but I'm sure going to find out,” Roman said, swinging his lower half out of the tub and dragging himself into the other room to get dressed, leaving a trail of saltwater coming from the bathroom into the bedroom. “It was big and purple. Let's hope that no one else gets there first or it could be a dead big purple thing.”

Patton wrapped his wings around his torso and pulled a shirt over them just as Romans legs unfused and he haphazardly shoved some shoes and pants on before making a beeline out the door, Patton right behind him.

They ignored the glances they got from other guests.

“Which way?” Patton asked once they were outside. 

_“I think it’s this way. Our room is on that side of the building,”_ Roman said, running towards the left side of the building.

“Wait, let's go slowly. It could be scared for all we know,” Patton said.

_“And dangerous!”_ Roman added, the idea of diving head-first into an adventure made his heart leap.

“Slowly, Roman,” Patton repeated sternly. Roman groaned but did what he asked, taking long, deliberate steps towards the entrance.

He could hear something being squashed, like that crunchy slime that kids liked these days. There was a strange grunting and shuddering, as if someone had eaten something disgusting.

He poked his head around the corner. A young man with a jacket covered in purple-patchwork patches was kneeling in the alleyway, keeping his body in the shadow of a large garbage can. His head bent over something. The sounds seemed to be coming from him as he did… something.

“Hello?” Patton whispered. 

The man turned and Roman felt his stomach do a 360. It was a young man with dark circles under his eyes and a slightly frail physique. His eyes were wild and full of a hunger that Roman had never seen before, but that wasn’t the scary thing.

What made Roman want to turn and run was the fact that this guy had two-inch long fangs dripping with blood, presumably from the mangled rat in his hands. The blood of the creature was smeared across his lips and face, making him look far more insane than he would have without the crimson liquid.

“Shit!” the vampire lisped over his fangs and dropped the rat, scurrying towards and then up the building, staying in the shadows of the trees.

“Hang on!” Patton cried. “We’re magic too! Please, we won’t hurt you!” 

The vampire stopped halfway up the side of the building, clung to it like Spider-Man, and looked down at them. His fangs had retracted, but the hunger had been replaced with wild fear and curiosity. Still not a good combo with the blood of a rat smeared across his face.

“What? You're magic too?” 

“Yeah. Hang on.” Patton started to struggle with taking off his shirt and the vampire held up a hand.

“No, no… No taking off shirts please,” he said, but Patton didn’t stop trying to force it off of his body. He rolled his eyes and then looked over at Roman. The vampire had eyes of a deep sunset-purple that sparkled like diamonds. If all vampires had eyes that pretty, Roman could understand why humans had made a big deal of vampires with hypnotism powers

“What about you? What do you got?” the vampire asked, breaking Roman's focus away from his eyes and back to the blood on his face. 

Roman opened his mouth to say something but closed it. The vampire smirked. “Cat got your tongue?”

He shook his head and literally wrote _“S-I-R-E-N,”_ in the air with a finger.

The Vampire shrugged and then signed, _“I've met Sirens before. I've heard worse than your screeching.”_  

Roman started. “You know American Sign-” 

“I've been alive for over two hundred years. I needed something to fill my time,” the Vampire said. “Now what about those scales?”

Roman bit back a retort and lifted up his pant leg, showing the Vampire his damp scales. 

”Pretty. Alright, so you're a siren and he’s what, a persistent moron?”

Roman clenched his fist and debated singing and dunking this creeps head in some Holy Water. “He’s a River-"

“There we go!” Patton cried, finally getting the shirt over his head and letting his wings drop free. “I'll give you a hint: my kind is very _fresh_ with the kids. We know all the memes and stuff, like dabbing and oh, you know the stuff!”

“Freshwater River Sprite, got it,” the vampire said, not really sure how to react to Patton’s comment. “Well I'm a vampire and no matter how disgusting rats are in taste and sight, I needed to eat, so I’m sorry about the scare.”

“Well what's your name?” Patton asked. “I'm Patton. This is Roman.”

“Virgil.”

“Virgil the Vampire? Mr. Alliteration over here,” Roman laughed.

“Laugh it up, Fire Truck.”

“Fire Truck…?” Roman asked.

“Now, is there anything else you needed or did you just want to know that you're not the only Fantasy Creature in town?”

“I guess we were just curious. Uh, if you need a place to stay, you can come in through our window and stay in our room,” Patton suggested.

“Nah, I work better on my own. I think I sleep in a home with air conditioner maybe… two or five times a year. And even if I'm outside, it’s not like I can die,” Virgil replied with a shrug and hopped onto the wall, sitting on the building as if it were a chair.

“Still. We’re getting pizza! Come have a slice with us!" 

“Yeah, we’ll even remove every piece of garlic for you,” Roman smirked but went serious again once he realized why Patton wanted Virgil to warm up to them. “But seriously, we might need you. You know this town and we have a temporary place for all of us to crash. Plus, we’re going to have pizza. Who doesn’t like pizza?!”

Virgil pursed his lips, nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but someone else cut into their conversation.

“Your pizza guy got lost. He’s currently halfway across town and won't get here for another two hours, but will still charge you the same amount. He should be fired for incompetency if you ask me.”

Patton squeaked and tried to shove his shirt back over his head to hide his wings as Virgil hopped off the wall as quickly as he could. Roman whipped around and this time, he audibly gasped.

“You're the dude who knocked me over and left me there to die!” he said, not caring that those gold-and-red eyes could glaze over as he drowned himself at the sound of his voice. But the man simply nodded.

“Don’t be so dramatic. I simply made you aware of my existence in this world so you wouldn’t be scared that I know of you now. However, please accept my apology for that reason,” the man said.

“You know this guy?” Virgil asked.

“Weren’t you listening? He knocked me over earlier and left me to lay there like a helpless child,” Roman said. “What do mean by all that blabber? You can see the future or something?” 

“You do have some brains,” the man said and Roman heard Virgil snort into his hand.

“You can?!” Patton exclaimed. “That’s awesome!”

“I suppose. Well, that’s all I needed to know. I’m glad that I’m not the only person with magic in this town. Stay safe.” Without another word, the man left the alley.

“Hang on!” Patton called and ran after him, only to come back looking surprised and disappointed. “He’s gone. Like _poof_ gone!”

“Nah. He sprinted into his car as soon as he was out of the alley,” Virgil said.

“What? Can you see into the past now?” Roman asked.

“No, but I do have heightened senses that I can use whenever I want them to be used,” Virgil said and stretched. “Well if two hundred years in this hell hole has taught me anything, it’s that if a random dude comes up to you saying that he knows you, we’re now the chosen ones. Since the pizza guy is incompetent, I'll go grab some grub and be back here in half an hour.”

With that, Virgil’s body melted into a dark substance until it reformed into a black, tinted purple raven that spread its wings and took off into the sky for the pizza. 

“Well he’s not wrong,” Patton said, watching Virgil fly out of sight.

Roman shrugged. “Bit of a prick, but it's always good to know a vamp, eh?” Suddenly he had one of those moments when something from years and years ago suddenly makes sense. “OH MY GOD FIRE TRUCK. HE CALLED ME THAT BECAUSE THEY HAVE A SIREN- THAT MOTHER FU-”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil, Roman and Patton spend some good quality time together in the park.

“So… how’d you get from that,” Patton gestured to the people milling around the nature park just outside the city, “to this?” To Virgil.

“The normal stuff. Alone, hungry vamp. Next thing I know, I’m waking up with sore gums, neck, and immortality. Oh yeah, I also fell into a well so I was stuck down there for a while,” Virgil said nonchalantly, keeping himself just off the sidewalk and in the shade of the trees.

_“Oh. Just… you woke up and you’re a vampire?”_  Roman asked.  _“What did you do about your family? There’s no cult or blood lust or-”_

“You have to reach Level 10 Friend to unlock my backstory,” Virgil interrupted. “You’re currently at Level 1 for giving me pizza the other day.

_“Rude,”_  Roman muttered as Patton giggled.

“How about you two?” Virgil asked. “How’d you end up from the sea and rivers to this shitty ass park?”

“Language, please,” Patton said. “But we made a Cross-Heart-”

“Aren't those things bonded for life or something?” Virgil asked in surprise

_“Yeah. Shut up and let him tell our story.”_

“Well we made the promise to return to each other and stay together for the rest of our lives when we were really young. Well, we realized what that meant around our tween years and accepted it. Like you said, Cross-Hearts are unbreakable,” Patton finished. “Now… we’re here.”

“Huh. Kinda boring but unavoidable,” Virgil admitted.

“So… what now? We got through backstories… how about powers?” Patton asked. “Other than Roman of course. No offense but it wouldn't end well ”

_“None taken, Pat.”_ Some was taken.

“Well… check this out.” Virgil glanced around and once he was sure that no humans were watching, melted into black goop. Instead of a raven, he became a lithe black cat that took off towards the trees, scampering up in a blur.

Roman looked at Patton in curiosity and then he heard a loud squawk before Virgil dropped back down, a large pigeon hanging limp in his mouth.

“Oh. Oh dear."

Virgil didn't stop with just a dead bird. He turned around and trotted towards a mother and her small child.

"Virgil wait-"

_"Hang on, Pat, I want to see if something interesting happens."_

"But the baby-"

_"Won't remember a thing cause it's a baby. It'll be fine, bud."_

Virgil stopped in front of the family and mewled softly.

“Hi, kit- whoa!” The mother picked up her child as Virgil set down the bird and sat expectantly. The woman waved her hand at Virgil, staring disgusted at the bird. “Shoo! Get out of here!”

Virgil got up, picked the bird up again, stretched and sauntered not towards Patton and Roman, but towards a patch of bushes. He 

_“Do we follow him?”_

“He wants to show us something so I say let’s go!” Patton said and followed Virgil, stopping momentarily to apologize to the lady about their cat’s behavior (she didn’t accept it). They reached the bushes and saw Virgil sauntering through the clearing without a care in the world.

“Virgil! Where are you going?” Patton called, but Virgil didn’t stop. In fact, he sped up, forcing Patton and Roman to go sprinting after him for a good five minutes. When he finally did stop, definitely not as out-of-breath as the other two, he was at a large fence, blocking their path to a large wooded area full of stones and dead trees. Four stones were stacked up in a small box that Virgil went up to and changed back into himself, the sun beaming down on his face.

He set the bird down in front of the pile and spit out a few feathers. "That's the thing I hate about birds: they shed a lot. Makes it harder to stay clean when eating." 

Contrary to popular belief, this vampire didn't seem to be hissing in pain at the UV rays. He simply grimaced a bit and started feeling around the stone facing the.

“Isn’t the sun painful?” Roman asked as Virgil felt around the stone. “I’m not super-sensitive to sunlight but it still hurts when I get a sunburn.”

“If it was deadly to me rather than a light tingle right now, I’d be complaining like you,” Virgil said and than pulled the rock -something the size and weight of a baby elephant- as easily as pulling a door. He rolled it to the side to reveal a small pile of blankets and not much else.

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Virgil said, sitting on the roof.

“You live… here? In a rock pile?” Patton asked, his eyes softening instantly at the sight of Virgil’s home.

“Yeah. I turn into a cat for the day, sleep, and then head out at night to hunt around here since it’s a pretty good area for squirrel and shit,” Virgil said nonchalantly.

“And you stay in houses-”

“Nope, that’s all you’re knowing. You know my home situation, which is pretty good all things considered. And it’s closed off to the entire world; another plus.”

“It’s only closed off to those who don’t know about it.”

“Again?! Where do you keep coming from?!” Roman asked as the Red-and-Gold eyed man came out from behind a tree. He looked calm at the sight of them and not very bothered by how Virgil’s secret living space had been found by a complete stranger.

“I simply see how you get here in a vision and follow in real life about twenty minutes before you even got to the park,” he replied. “I'm glad I did; seeing how you live have me the incentive to decide.”

“Decide what?” Virgil asked, obviously angry that his secret space had been found by some random stalker.

The man approached them and held out his hand. “My name is Logan Pierce. As you know, I have the ability to see into the future and when I got a vision of you three in that alley yesterday, I knew something was going to happen that included you three. I didn't foresee that I'd run into you again for even more important reasons than letting you know I exist.”

Patton held out his hand to shake but both Virgil and Roman held him back.

“You have literally been stalking us for two days, to the point where you found this place! We have no reason to trust you!” Roman said.

“It’s not stalking; it’s simply being told where to go by future visions,” Logan explained. “It means something that-”

“What's going to happen?” Virgil asked. “An apocalypse only we can stop? A monster that when we fuse, only we can stop? Some sort of great destiny?”

“Nothing so dramatic. I simply needed people like me to become my roommates and help me pay rent,” Logan said. “And based on both of your living situations - a hotel and this rustic place - I'd say I've found a solution.”

Virgil was quiet for a moment. “Worse than a destiny.”


End file.
